Protecting and Growing Self and Wealth in These Uncertain Times

Signs Of The Time

I had a tough choice to make earlier tonight- either watch President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Speech, or finish up doing laundry.

After all my clothes were put away, I saw on my Internet service provider’s home page some jibberish about how some “shadow of crisis” had passed. I pulled up a transcript of the President’s speech tonight and sure enough there was this:

America, for all that we’ve endured; for all the grit and hard work required to come back; for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this:

The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong.

At this moment — with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production — we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth. It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next fifteen years, and for decades to come…

Mark my words. The “shadow of crisis” hasn’t passed. It was merely papered over. Keynesian “enlightenment,” government intervention, bailouts, stimulus packages, quantitative easing, QE 1, QE 2, QE 3, willing-and-able presstitutes, and what do we have? The Not-So-Great Recovery. Answer me this- if the economy is so strong, why have interest rates been effectively at zero for how many years now? “But Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve are going to start raising interest rates soon.” We’ll see, but if they do, I suspect rates will be raised incrementally, and I can’t help but wonder if the next few years won’t resemble the early part of last decade when a housing bubble inflated (and eventually popped) under the guise of a strong economy, but with the Fed slow on the trigger to raise rates and take way the punch bowl. This time around, we could even have multiple asset bubbles (in bonds? housing? stocks?) formed before the next installment of the longer financial crash arrives. Who knows exactly how the next crisis will play out, but I’m pretty sure the end result will be much uglier than the last episode. Not many bullets left for Uncle Sam and the central bank to use.

One more thing. “We have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth.” God forbid anyone scratch the surface to reveal how many more trillions of dollars of debt has been piled on our financial house of cards in order to kick the can down the road a little bit more. There’s no escaping the fact that the United States is the world’s largest debtor nation. And another inconvenient fact happens to be that taking on significant debt is akin to slavery.

“Freer to write our own future.” If only it were true. Financial reckoning day is more like it.

I’ll leave Survival And Prosperity readers with this. Back in the early 1990s while attending the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign I remember listening to a recording of “The Rat Pack” in action. Frank Sinatra was chiding Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. Now, the “Chairman Of The Board” made an observation that better describes the situation we’re in than what the President Of The United States said this evening:

You’ve had your fling and you flung it.

Enjoy the “good times” while they last, then prepare to batten down the hatches.

Note that it’s not the end of the word I’m talking about here. But things will definitely suck for a while before the economy and society gets better again. By that time, we’ll probably be well on our way to having passed the baton to China.

You’ve likely heard of students bringing canned food to school for food drives, but have you ever heard of bringing a canned food item to school for safety?

A letter sent to parents of students at one school in Chambers County requested just that- students were asked to arm themselves with an eight ounce canned food item.

Though it sounds odd, administrators believe the practice could catch potential intruders off guard, possibly even knocking him or her out until police arrive…

In the letter, [W.F. Burns Middle School Principal Priscella] Principal Holley said students who are armed with a canned food item will have a sense of empowerment to protect themselves in the event an intruder enters their classroom…

NYPD traffic tickets and summonses for minor offenses have dropped off by a staggering 94 percent following the execution of two cops — as officers feel betrayed by the mayor and fear for their safety, The Post has learned…

Angry union leaders have ordered drastic measures for their members since the Dec. 20 assassination of two NYPD cops in a patrol car, including that two units respond to every call.

It has helped contribute to a nose dive in low-level policing, with overall arrests down 66 percent for the week starting Dec. 22 compared with the same period in 2013, stats show…

(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)

A number of observers claim Bill de Blasio ran his campaign for Mayor of New York City on an anti-police platform.

And he was subsequently elected.

It’s also been pointed out that anti-cop sentiment could be found among/around de Blasio staffers. Chuck Ross reported on the Daily Caller website on December 23:

Kicy Motley, the director of the Brooklyn community affairs unit working for New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, has a history of making anti-cop statements, and Rachel Noerdlinger, the former chief of staff to de Blasio’s wife, lived with a convicted killer who has expressed a deep dislike for police officers…

I guess it could be argued that the New York Police Department is merely providing the kind of policing a number of de Blasio supporters and residents have been asking for- in a sense.

The thing is, I’m pretty sure the majority of New Yorkers don’t support the cop haters (it’s one thing to peacefully protest against perceived police brutality- it’s another to foster, promote, and carry out violence against law enforcement officers).

In the case of NYC, I think it’s a matter of “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

Although New York’s Finest might emphasize a different saying with respect to the ongoing work slowdown:

“Elections have consequences.”

Indeed they do.

Should make for an interesting New Year’s Eve at Times Square. Hope the bad guys/terrorists don’t take advantage of the situation though…

Rahm Emanuel’s 17-year-old son was robbed near the family’s Ravenswood home Friday night, according to a mayoral spokeswoman and police reports…

Zach Emanuel was talking on his cellphone in the 4200 block of North Hermitage Avenue, across the street and a few houses down from the Emanuel home, when two males approached him from behind, according to the police report.

One of them “placed his arm around the victim’s neck in a rear chokehold,” and the second one struck the teen with a fist, knocking him to the ground. The robbers took the teen’s cellphone and patted him down, the police report said.

“The offenders then asked the victim, ‘What else you got?’ (and) forced the victim to enter his security code to unlock the phone,” the police report said.

The robbers then ran away. The teen was treated for cuts and bruises on his face by a personal physician at his home, according to the report…

(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)

Couple of things here:

1. Mayor Emanuel and his administration are known for claiming “crime is down!” in the city.

2. For those blog readers who don’t already know, the “Rahmfather’s” Chicago pad is heavily-guarded by the Chicago Police Department, including two or more cops in front, two or more in the alley, a heavy-weapons vehicle nearby, and a roving patrol (source: Second City Cop blog). By extension, the surrounding area is thought to be one of Chicago’s most secure as crime is concerned.

3. Glad to hear Zach’s injuries weren’t worse, since not resisting during a robbery is no guarantee the bad guy(s) won’t still injure/kill you.

4. I, too, was like Zach at that age, oblivious to my surroundings (no cell phone, but often found sporting a Sony Walkman). Then I started hearing/reading stories about the bad guys preying on people carrying on like that. By the time I was living in Chicago, I’d still listen to my mp3 player while walking down Northwest Highway- but not without a healthy dose of situational awareness.

Washington and the Fed are probably in a celebratory mood this weekend after hearing about the following. From Rodrigo Campos over at Reuters.com Friday:

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment for this month came in at 93.8, the highest reading since January 2007…

The survey’s gauge of consumer expectations rose to 86.1 from 79.9, also the highest since January 2007, and beating the 80.5 forecast.

The survey’s barometer of current economic conditions rose to 105.7 from 102.7 and above the 101.4 forecast. It was the highest level since February 2007…

(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)

January 2007. February 2007. We all know what happened a year later, right?

And last I checked, we’re getting kind of long in the tooth (historically) as it concerns the expansion phase of this particular economic cycle.

If the U.S. economy and larger financial system were really on solid footing, I’d be celebrating along with the politicians and bankers. But long-time readers know how I think all this is going to end…

This morning, I was talking to the assistant manager of my parents’ condo building not too far from Chicago’s West Side. I’ll call this guy “Bookman,” one of my favorite characters from the TV show Good Times. Bookman’s from the area, and a couple of years older than me. From the exchange:

BOOKMAN: Have you been following what’s going on Missouri?
EDITOR: Yeah.
BOOKMAN: I think it’s going to blow up.
EDITOR: You mean, like a replay of Rodney King?
BOOKMAN: No, like after Martin Luther King was shot.
EDITOR: Oh, you mean the 1968 riots on the West Side.
BOOKMAN: Yes- but all over the country.

Interesting. Hope he’s wrong. But I’ll be keeping an eye out for any signs of coming widespread unrest.

In an era of stagnant wages and a rising cost of living, having a job doesn’t guarantee an individual can make ends meet.

In the past, many Americans would rise to the challenge, finding and working a second or third job if that’s what it took to put food on the table.

These days, it’s just easier for able-bodied, able-minded men and women to latch onto the government “tit” rather than work.

And plenty do it- no doubt about that.

Enter Scott Carroll. A minor league baseball player when he shot the following two-and-a-half years ago, this Kansas City, Missouri-native proclaimed to the world he would do whatever was required to eke out a living:

Okay, so Carroll was just having a good time and probably wasn’t hurting as much as many other Americans as a professional baseball player. But there’s still an important lesson to be taken away from this funny video:

Scott Carroll just recently made his big-league debut for the Chicago White Sox at age 29.

I doubt his TV pitchman skills got this right-handed pitcher to where he’s at today.

He was the young man charged with the attempted assassination of U.S. President Barack Obama back in November 2011 when he fired shots at the White House. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the attack.

The other day, I spotted this on the legal news site LawyerHerald.com. A staff writer reported Tuesday:

According to a Bloomberg report, an Idaho man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to firing an assault rifle at the White House from his car. 23 year-old Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez admitted to shooting at the White House from his car. His lawyers claimed in a memo to presiding US District Judge Rosemary Collyer that their client has the misguided idea that his action would make the public aware that an Armageddon is coming and that Ortega-Hernandez has no intention to hurt anyone nor President Barack Obama…

Ortega-Hernandez’s lawyers had asked Collyer to hand down only a 10-year jail sentence for their client…

According to the memo submitted to Collyer for a reduced sentence, Ortega-Hernandez allegedly fell under the influence of survivalists following a childhood where he has been living in many places and saw his parents separated…

(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)

Ah, it was the survivalists’ fault.

Apparently, Judge Collyer didn’t buy that argument.

But it was only a matter of time before someone demonized preppers/survivalists again after the Sandy Hook shootings.

Remember what was being said back then about one of the first victims of the violence- Nancy Lanza? I blogged on December 17, 2012:

I’ve come across two more web articles that don’t paint the modern survivalist movement in a positive light.

In fact, some might argue they’re attempting to connect prepping with the Sandy Hook school shootings.

From The Telegraph (UK) website yesterday:

Connecticut school shooting: Adam Lanza’s mother was preparing for disaster

The mother of the gunman who killed 20 children and seven adults in America’s worst school massacre, was a gun-proud “survivalist” preparing for economic collapse, it has emerged.

Nancy Lanza, whose gun collection was raided by her son Adam for Friday’s massacre at Sandy Hook school, was part of the “prepper” movement, which urges readiness for social chaos by hoarding supplies and training with weapons.

“She prepared for the worst,” her sister-in-law Marsha Lanza told reporters. “Last time we visited her in person, we talked about prepping – are you ready for what could happen down the line, when the economy collapses?”

And then there’s this from The Independent (UK) site this morning:

Mother of Sandy Hook school gunman Adam Lanza was a ‘prepper’ survivalist preparing for economic and social collapse, say reports

Friends and family have portrayed Mrs Lanza as a paranoid ‘survivalist’ who believed the world was on the brink of violent collapse.

“Paranoid.” Regrettably, preppers and survivalists should expect more of the same from the establishment politicians, their “presstitutes,” and low-information supporters going forward.

Whereas I- not a prepper but gleaning ideas and knowledge from them- see these individuals for the most part as simply wanting to carry on with their lives and look after themselves, loved ones, and friends in the event of an emergency or disaster.

Did I mention that by their actions they free up police, fire, and other public safety agencies to attend to those who for some reason or another failed to prepare for a major crisis?

Regular readers of this blog might remember that I used to reside on the Northwest Side of Chicago. When my girlfriend and I first moved into that so-called “suburb in the city” almost a decade ago, a number of our personal belongings were stolen almost right off the bat (plant delivery left in building vestibule, steel Coleman cooler in indoor parking garage, Sunday Tribunes galore).

Consequently, my sister declared at a family gathering that I had moved to the “ghetto.”

Some individuals might have taken offense to that. I reveled in it. In fact, “Ghetto Superstar” is my “handle” on a number of Internet forums.

Some years later, I informed my sister that I might be sending her a package in the mail. She responded that might not be a good idea since some neighbors in her building had delivered parcels go missing.

Alas, the ghetto had arrived at her doorstep too (albeit at the foot of the Rocky Mountains).

Last week, I stopped by my parents’ place in the west suburbs. My mom shared with me that some recent deliveries to their building had been stolen. Thankfully, none of those packages belonged to my parents.

Still, back when I lived in the “ghetto,” that’s where I had my stuff shipped to, thinking it was a safer destination than my Chicago address.

Many major gold companies have lost at least half their value this year after a more than 25% plunge in gold prices, but analysts aren’t convinced that miners have hit bottom — and tax-loss selling may further the declines.

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index XAU lost 51% as of Thursday year to date and the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs index XX:HUI declined 57%. Shares of Barrick Gold Corp. ABX, the world’s largest gold-mining company, has dropped by 56% this year.

Among exchanged-traded funds, the Market Vectors Gold Miners GDX, which provides exposure to publicly-traded companies involved primarily in gold mining, sank this week to its lowest level in about five years. It’s down 55% this year.

The losses for the gold miners aren’t much of a surprise given the hefty declines in gold prices, which are poised to log their first loss in 13 years. But shares of the gold miners have suffered a drop that’s roughly double the year’s price loss for the metal.

(Editor’s note: Italics added for emphasis)

For many of those who recognize the true economic health of the nation and larger financial system and consider the so-called “sheep” as reverse indicators, the precious metal probably looks mighty attractive right now.

After all, it can be argued gold’s fundamentals really haven’t changed much since recent times when the gold price was up significantly higher.

Which brings to mind the following. Almost exactly a year ago, The Wall Street Journalpublished a surprisingly bullish article about gold stocks. Brett Arends wrote back on December 7, 2012:

In Gold Investing, Forget the Metal and Focus on Stocks

Want to buy some cheap gold? Consider gold-mining stocks.

Shares of the leading precious-metals companies have lagged behind the price of physical gold bullion so steeply in recent years that they now trade for significantly less than the value of the companies’ gold reserves, say analysts. In fact, the gap is among the widest ever seen, analysts say…

I wonder what the folks over at the Journal think about “paper gold” today?

(Editor’s note: I am not responsible for any personal liability, loss, or risk incurred as a consequence of the use and application, either directly or indirectly, of any information presented herein.)

There’s talk this week in the mainstream media about a “new” game that certain teenagers are playing with increasing frequency these days:

The “Knockout” game.

New game my butt. That violent attack is old news here in the Chicagoland area. Kim Janssen reported on the Chicago Sun-Times website back on July 16, 2012:

Three teenagers accused of killing a 62-year-old father-of-12 in West Rogers Park were playing a game called “Pick ‘em out and knock ‘em down” when they videotaped themselves punching him in the face, prosecutors say.

Malik Jones, 16, Nicholas Ayala, 17, and Anthony Malcolm, 18, were caught after the video of Jones fatally punching Delfino Mora was posted on Jones’ Facebook page, according to authorities.

The three were playing a “game where the offender picks an innocent victim and knocks him out by striking him and likely robbing him as well,” Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Terry Clancy told Judge Israel Desierto in court Monday.

Anyway, back to new instances of this “game” being played. Chris Lingebach reported on the Washington D.C. CBS website on November 16:

A terrifying new ‘game’ that’s already caused deaths in Syracuse, St. Louis and New Jersey is sweeping the nation, and it preys upon unsuspecting people walking the streets, anywhere.

A recent report from New York-based CBS 2 shed light on the growing trend, displaying unsettling footage of teens participating in this game – which goes by the name ‘Knockout’ – and involves randomly targeting passersby, with the ultimate goal being to knock them out with one punch as they walk by.

You may have heard of the following wacky story out of the Nisqually Indian Reservation some 60 miles south of Seattle. Eric M. Johnson of Reuters reported yesterday:

A 93-year-old Washington state man, whose dog returned home with a human leg it had found, buried it in his back yard on an Indian reservation to avoid being suspected of a crime, a local official and media reports said…

Bill Flowers picked up the leg brought home by his dog, Liberty, and thought of calling the police, he told KOMO-TV at the weekend. But fearing they would suspect him of foul play, he buried it in his backyard, where it remained for several days until he told his daughter, who urged him to call the police.

“I was afraid to call. I’m 93 years old. I didn’t want to have to go to the pen for something I didn’t do,” Flowers told the television station.

Many people will probably just dismiss this story as being another one of those weird tales frequently encountered on the Internet.

However, I find it disturbing that a 93-year-old-man is afraid to contact local law enforcement about his pooch’s gruesome find.

“I didn’t want to have to go to the pen for something I didn’t do.”

A case of someone watching too many movies/too much TV, or is this how Americans have come to view the police?

All I know is, what’s shown on the nightly news doesn’t exactly conjure up images of “Officer Friendly” for those on Main Street:

Sorry for not posting any new material Tuesday. The fact is, I was busy contemplating some matters related to Survival And Prosperity. Regular readers may have noticed that blogging has been somewhat sporadic, current events-oriented, and Chicago, Illinois-centric for some time now. This was not my intention. While it would be easy to blame my newly-found homeowner responsibilities, a myriad of other projects/tasks, and those unforeseen challenges/setbacks that have a tendency to pop up in life when we least expect (let alone need) them, at the end of the day the responsibility for publishing a decent weblog that provides useful information related to “protecting and growing self and wealth in these uncertain times” rests squarely on my shoulders.

And lately, I’ve “dropped the ball.”

Going forward, look for blog posts not only being published Sunday through Thursday again, but bright and early in the morning. While I’ll still discuss current events, new posts will be released from the “Project Prepper” series along with other financial and personal safety information that readers might be able to utilize. I’ll also be reintroducing the different series of posts special to this blog. As such, a “normal” week of blogging should look like this:

As for those Chicagoland-centric posts? Well, those will continue, although they won’t make up the bulk of what’s published. On a side note, there’s just been so much bad news coming out of the “Windy City” and “Land of Lincoln” lately I’ve been compelled to write about it in hopes local readers understand what’s at stake. A lot, if you ask me. For this audience, I’ll be exploring the different avenues available to them for making the best of their unfortunate situation that’s been decades in the making.

One last thing. I’ve received a ton of messages via the blog contact page. For some reason, viewers of the various prepper/survival-themed shows on TV these days are messaging me thinking I’m either the person they saw on TV or have their contact info. The contact info requests I get, but the other? Anyway, I’ll be working hard whittling away at my inbox. Your patience is really appreciated.

That’s it for now. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions related to Survival And Prosperity.

As I sit here in my frontroom, waiting for the kids to emerge from their homes to start trick-or-treating once the rain subsides in this part of the Chicagoland area, I wanted to share something I found in the local community college mailer I got this week. Under the section for the Emeritus Program (older students) in the Oakton Community College Spring 2014 course catalog:

Here are some unique and entertaining classes offered this spring…

Keeping Your Spirit Alive While Civilization Is Collapsing

“Keeping Your Spirit Alive While Civilization Is Collapsing”

Interesting. Just “tongue in cheek,” or is instruction actually premised on the notion that civilization is on the decline?

Once more information is released about next semester’s classes, I’ll get back to you.

From My Other Blog

Back on New Year’s Eve, I blogged about Swiss-born investment advisor/money manager Marc Faber appearing on Bloomberg Television’s In the Loop. The publisher of the monthly investment newsletter The Gloom Boom & Doom Report talked about precious metals (among other financial topics) and shared the following with viewers: I tell you, I prefer physical precious […] ...

Well-known investor, author, and financial commentator Jim Rogers was recently interviewed by Geoff Rutherford for Sprott Money News as part of their “Ask The Expert” series. The Singapore-based Rogers talked about a number of financial/investing topics, including what he believed are the safest countries to keep money and assets in. From their exchange recorded March […] ...

Regular readers of Offshore Safe Deposit Boxes might remember me mentioning IBV International Vaults last summer. I named the South African private vault as having the “World’s Best Offshore Private Vault Video.” (Editor’s note: I’ve encountered some really good videos lately for the second installment of this “competition,” which is scheduled to be held again […] ...

Just like St. James’ Safe Deposit in Leeds, England, there’s been another non-bank, private vault I’ve followed for some time that’s now opened its doors. Enter RockSafe, located in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah in Malaysia. From the Daily Express (Malaysia) on March 15: Another safe deposit service has debuted with Rocksafe Sdn […] ...